1 Corinthians 14 – The Listening Plan

Devotional

Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

– 1 Corinthians 14:23

I remember it well, though it was almost 30 years ago. I was 9 or 10 years old and my family was on the hunt for a new home church. As we church hopped for a few weeks we happened one Sunday to attend a local pentecostal church, which in many ways was strong, vibrant and alive. But I’ll never forget as an uninformed 9 year old thinking “These people are nuts” when at a certain point in the service multiple individuals began babbling strange and indistinguishable utterances.

Let me be clear, I am, in every way a continuationist. That is, I believe that God still works by His Spirit through spiritual gifts today. So just as the Apostle exhorts at the end of 1 Corinthians 14, I do not want to forbid the speaking in tongues. But I definitely want “all things be done decently and in order.” And I don’t want the uninformed or unbelieving in our midst to thing we’re out of our minds.